Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, March 16, 2018 – The British Government has approved a military vessel and aerial surveillance for the Turks and Caicos Islands due to the unprecedented level of illegal Haitian sloops making successful landfall in the country.
Acting Governor, HE Anya Williams was one of the country leaders at an emergency press conference called on Friday and held at the Office of the Premier in Providenciales.
Her Excellency Williams said the Governor’s Office began reaching out to the UK since Thursday and this morning a high level teleconference was held to upset a human trafficking operation into the Turks and Caicos which officials are labeling an issue of ‘National Security’.
“I am happy to report here today that we have been in active dialogue with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, there was a teleconference earlier this morning with the Governor’s Office the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the UK, the Ministry of Defence, the Defence Attaché in Jamaica as well as the Regional Enforcement officer in Miami and as a result of that, we’ve requested additional assistance in terms of marine surveillance and also aerial surveillance.”
The Turks and Caicos called for the Mounts Bay of the Royal Navy fleet to return to these islands and to lend support; that request was granted and the frigate is being reassigned and dispatched from Belize to the TCI.
“Support is certainly on the way and in terms of what we are working on right now, many persons would be aware has funded the radar upgrades at a cost of $509,000, those technicians are on island, equipment is here and they have already begun the work to upgrade the radar.”
The team from the UK will also train the radar, immigration and police staff to manage the system which will be better, though officials resisted elaborating on how the radar’s performance will be enhanced.
Her Excellency Anya Williams said the Governor’s Office is keen on lending the support required.
“In terms of boosting numbers, in terms of providing vehicles, in terms of doing what is needed to ensure that our borders are protected, we are heavily engaged and certainly we are going to be looking at what additional support is needed.”
The acting Governor shared that the Premier has also been in conversation with Lord Tariq Ahmad, who is the FCO Minister for the Commonwealth.
“The Premier has had a personal call from the Minister in the UK, Lord Ahmad and that call was actually directed at what level of resources is needed here in the Turks and Caicos whether it is additional numbers from the region or from the UK.”
The RFA Mounts Bay, which was in January 2018 named ‘Ship of the Year’ by the Royal Navy for the second year in a row, is being re-deployed from Belize; the Acting Governor was unable to give an exact arrival date but assured the vessel was en route to the Turks and Caicos as a matter of urgency.